FreeGameDev

Hi everybody (reposted from here),

My name is Aviv and I am a contributor to 0 A.D.

I'm posting here to find out if you could write a post reminding the community that we're looking for new contributors. We are working towards our first playable alpha release and we hope to get one finished by this summer, and we would love to have new contributors join the effort.



General info

0 A.D. (pronounced "zero ey-dee") is a free, open-source, cross-platform real-time strategy (RTS) game of ancient warfare. It's a historically-based war/economy game that allows players to relive or rewrite the history of Western civilizations, focusing on the years between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D.

This ambitious project involves state-of-the-art 3D graphics, detailed artwork, sound, and a flexible and powerful custom-built game engine.

The game has been in development by Wildfire Games (WFG), a group of volunteer, hobbyist game developers, since 2001. The code and data are available under the GPL license, and the art, sound and documentation are available under CC-BY-SA. In short, we consider 0 A.D. an an educational celebration of game development and ancient history.

Contributing to 0 A.D.:

We're looking for the following types of contributors:

• OpenGL Programmers
• AI Programmers
• Gameplay Programmers
• Sound effect specialists
• Texture artists
• 3D artists
• Animators
• Web developers (jQuery, PHP, MySQL)

Read this for more information about each opening and for instructions how to apply.

Edit (April 2, 2010): The latest version of 0 A.D. is available for download here for Windows, OS X and Linux.

Also, let me know if you have any questions, suggestions etc. Thanks!

I know 0ad is fairly well known, but screenshots are always a useful addition to this kind of post.

IMO though, 1 is the best amount, with others in spoiler tags, as too many images tend to come off as overwhelming to me

True, that. Fixed. Thanks!

If you're interested in contributing to 0 A.D., a pre-alpha version is now available for download for you to install easily.

Thanks for the release guys! Compiled like a dream for me on Kubuntu 64 bit, performs well too

Pre-alpha 3, now featuring multiplayer!

0 A.D. Alpha 1 Argonaut has just been released!

Alpha 1 Argonaut includes aggressive units that attack enemies on sight, lifelike animals that escape danger, two new maps, in-game multiplayer chat and much more.

There are now some updated Ubuntu packages that you are invited to test out, and of course, as always, you are invited to contribute to the game in gameplay programming, AI, 3d graphics and more.

Awesome news, will make a blog post about that now!

Edit: blog post up!

Who is up for a match?

Would love to try, but it seems like spawning new units is currently limited to female citizens - which kind of take the fun out of a MP game.

Still, a great release and congrats to the whole team!

Arthur {l Wrote}:Would love to try, but it seems like spawning new units is currently limited to female citizens - which kind of take the fun out of a MP game.

Still, a great release and congrats to the whole team!

Huh? I can train other units just fine with this release. Are you sure you got the newest version?

To be honest, I probably just didn't try enough.

Edit: yes, that was my mistake, sorry.
But as it is now, performance is IMHO not good enough for serious multiplayer action yet.

We are currently seeking someone to lead our open source development efforts. More details here.

0 A.D. Alpha 2 Bellerophon has been released. It features victory conditions, fog of war, formations, a new in-game GUI and many other features that make 0 A.D. feel more like a real RTS than ever before. Check it out!

0 A.D. Alpha 3 Cerberus has been released. It includes garrisoning, resource shuttling, exciting changes to the GUI and more. Check it out!

0 A.D. Alpha 4 Daedalus has been released. It includes basic opponent AI, improved terrain blending and fog of war, new naval units, new sound effects and more!

Just wanted to let you guys know Alpha 5 Edetania has been released. It debuts the Iberian faction, marks a huge leap in the playability of 0 A.D. with a new enemy AI and much more.

Check out our new YouTube video: http://youtu.be/zbKKlW7PYyk

Awesome video!

Heads up, everybody: 0 A.D. Alpha 6 Fortuna has been released!

Some main new features:

• Bug fixes: Unit stances; Delay in carrying out unit instructions eliminated; Units less likely to get stuck.
  
• Art and Sound: 250 new terrain textures. 43 new sound effects. 6 new or modified maps. New Greek units: Houses, siege tower, Thracian Mercenary. Art released for all of the remaining Champion units.
  
• Flight demo: A brand new P-51 Mustang can fly around the map, and attack targets on the ground and in the air. (We did this for fun and to show that the sky's almost literally the limit with the Pyrogenesis engine. Ba-da-bing!)

Important: We always need new contributors, but this summer we are particularly seeking contributors in web design and 3d modeling. Please see the release announcement for details.

Great progress since going open source! A great advert for the combination of motivated indie developers with a clear goal and the community prepared to support them.

How much further does alpha6 bring 0ad in terms of AI/singleplayer playability?

Thanks, Charlie. (A post on FreeGamer would be much appreciated!)

The main AI advances in Alpha 6 are in pathfinding, not so much in higher-level strategic thinking on part of the computer. These will come along in due course.

It looks pretty good, thumbs up from here, I am downloading now

i'm jealous of the dev pace of this project lol

great work, thumbs up too !