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.

Moreover, you can redistribute the game and modify it freely as long as you abide by the GPL. You can even use parts of the art and sound for your own projects as long as you abide by CC BY-SA. No “freemium” model, no in-game advertising, no catch.

Please Vote for Us in the Indie of the Year 2012 Contest!

If you care about 0 A.D., please vote for us in the second round of the Indie of the Year 2012 contest. Under “Upcoming games of 2012″, under “Real Time Strategy”, you need to click the word “VOTE” on the left of “0 A.D.” Voting continues until December 21st. Thanks in advance, from all of us in Wildfire Games.

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.)

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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”.

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.

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.

Graphics and User Interface Improvements:

Improved Water Rendering: The new, “super-fancy” water includes the white foam of waves crashing onto the shore, it can be much wavier, and it casts surface and underwater shadows.

The new, “super-fancy” water includes the white foam of waves crashing onto the shore, it can be much wavier, and it casts surface and underwater shadows. Post-Processing Manager: Recent changes enable features such as distance fog, bloom and more. (See screenshots below. Top left is default. Effects on bottom right exaggerated for demonstration purposes.) No less importantly, the post-processing manager is extremely moddable, so from now on, developers can very easily add new visual effects to 0 A.D. using existing code from other projects. For an example, see the Bokeh Depth of Field effect shown below.

Recent changes enable features such as distance fog, bloom and more. (See screenshots below. Top left is default. Effects on bottom right exaggerated for demonstration purposes.) No less importantly, the post-processing manager is extremely moddable, so from now on, developers can very easily add new visual effects to 0 A.D. using existing code from other projects. For an example, see the Bokeh Depth of Field effect shown below. Rubble appears when you destroy a building (see screenshots below).

appears when you destroy a building (see screenshots below). We have also added icons to the tooltips, instead of names of resources like “Food” and “Wood” and time units like “seconds” (see screenshot below).

Music and Sound:

New song: “Calm Before the Storm”, meant to be played in menu screens.

“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.

Getting Support

Please see the “Get Support” page on our website to find ways to get help from the active and friendly 0 A.D. community.

We are well aware there is some room for improvement in 0 A.D. Some known issues are: Lag, visual glitches or textures not loaded, missing animations and more. When you provide feedback, we would ask you to focus on some of the other points that could be improved. Thanks.

Please Contribute!

We are seeking volunteer contributors in programming, art, sound, documentation and more. Programmers are especially welcome and can get started immediately.

Interested? Log onto #0ad-dev on QuakeNet on IRC and meet the developers. Also, you are invited to register on our forums and start participating!

Why “Loucetios”?

We name our releases according to development status (“Alpha” or “Beta”), successive release number (1, 2, 3, …) and a word relating to the ancient world, in alphabetical order (“Argonaut” for A, “Bellerophon” for B, …).

Loucetios was a Gallic god related to storms and lightning, that was identified with the Roman god of war, Mars. He is often found accompanied by the goddess Nemetona, as part of a divine couple.

For the next alpha, we welcome fan suggestions for words relating to the ancient world beginning with the letter M. Keep it original and related to the time frame portrayed in 0 A.D. (appx. 500 BC – 1 BC)!

Happy Holiday Season!

Just for fun, we’ve made up this character, who is like Santa Claus, except he is skinnier, he wears thick glasses and has a penchant for hiding in large crowds.

Can you find him in this winter-themed screenshot?

Long Time, No Siege

Wildfire Games will keep releasing new versions of 0 A.D. from time to time. Watch our news feed to get updates, or follow us by e-mail, RSS, Facebook or Twitter. And you’re always welcome to join the 0 A.D. community on our forums.

Contact info for press, bloggers, etc.: aviv@wildfireODYSSEYgames.com without the name of Homer’s ancient Greek epic written in all caps.