Free RTS Game 0 A.D. Sees New Alpha Release

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="http://play0ad.com/">0 A.D.</a>, one of the best free, open source real-time strategy games, has <a href="http://play0ad.com/indiegogo-crowdfunding-campaign-new-release-alpha-14-naukratis/">reached</a> alpha 14, codenamed "Naukratis".</b> The new release features a brand new building type (with models for all factions), exponential armor and realistic health along with other gameplay changes as well as many graphics, sound and user interface improvements.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/0ad-alpha14.jpg" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="0 a.d. alpha 14" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIbThyF6bk61ZcWMM366pRhqKCB432ryS7QrES_FwqoKk5F788PCQHqPMXpjosuqDAwL5pKj9BWInSbr4u2JK4SaRN504eDPn8VLvQ06prFpzCFBHplZWJQ1Z77GX44vK2ZeK2WsgAiH0/s320/0ad-alpha14.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">0 A.D. is an open source, historical war and economy RTS game developed by Wildfire Games which features several ancient civilizations at their prime, from Greece and Rome to Carthage and Persia. The game is available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While it features great sound and graphics and has both single-player and multi-player functionality, the game still lacks some features, such as no matchmaking service (multi-player uses peer-to-peer networking, without a central server).</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Gameplay changes in the latest 0 A.D. alpha 14 "Naukratis":</b></div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>A brand new building type, complete with models for all factions has been added: Blacksmiths;</li><li>Infinite farms: A farm will now keep yielding food until the end of the match, without need to rebuild it, but with diminishing returns;</li><li>Exponential armor and realistic health: Technologies now have the same effect on all units. Also, changes to the way units’ health is calculated in the game allowed us to correct some unrealistic phenomena, like archer damage to buildings;</li><li>Allies can now garrison in each other’s buildings;</li><li>Shared trade gain with allies: When you trade with an ally, there is a +25% bonus over trading with yourself, that is now split between you and your ally;</li><li>Ranged units can hit farther from high places;</li><li>Ranged units had to be within a minimum range from their targets to fire at them. This requirement has been removed.</li></ul><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/0a.d.alpha-14-blacksmiths.jpg" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="0 A.D. alpha 14" src="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/0a.d.alpha-14-blacksmiths_thumb.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New building type: Blacksmiths</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Graphics, sound, user interface improvements, etc. in 0 A.D. alpha 14::</b></div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>A persistent Hero button will appear in the top left when you train your hero;</li><li>In single-player games, you can now change the game’s speed whenever you want to;</li><li>You can now mark camera positions and jump back to them later with hotkeys;</li><li>GUI dropdowns support typing for quick selection;</li><li>The game now plays a list of multiple songs per match, instead of playing just one song in a loop. Also, the user interface now responds to the user with sounds;</li><li>Terrain anchoring: Units now move more realistically on hills;</li><li>Saved games can now be given descriptions and deleted or overwritten in-game;</li><li>Several maps were updated;</li><li>Pike elevation tool has been added to the Atlas Scenario Editor. This lets you create mountains and cliffs more easily;</li><li>Saving maps in Atlas will no longer make it crash;</li><li>Fixed some common out-of-sync and out-of-memory errors;</li><li>Alert sounds no longer heard by all players, off-screen sounds only heard when appropriate;</li><li>Fixed crash with Nvidia Optimus graphics and some netbooks</li><li>Walls can be placed along shores;</li><li>Improved hotkey support for non-QWERTY keyboards;</li><li>Performance improvements.</li></ul><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2yYys08yljnrqKHUk-OdyLxITZIwc23AEHdRlkW__NYHSIt7_186QwJH2OnyPMRYeV7NRDufeiDpL6d5X0DCAvttzncoLYYg5W39X2YjlkEZ3QCxBxKP-FTWGSQtkGR9amyqHVxZkO34/s1600/0a.d.alpha14.jpg" imageanchor="1" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2yYys08yljnrqKHUk-OdyLxITZIwc23AEHdRlkW__NYHSIt7_186QwJH2OnyPMRYeV7NRDufeiDpL6d5X0DCAvttzncoLYYg5W39X2YjlkEZ3QCxBxKP-FTWGSQtkGR9amyqHVxZkO34/s320/0a.d.alpha14.jpg" title="0 a.d. alpha 14" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">And speaking of 0 A.D., Wildfire Games is trying to <b>raise $160,000 to support the development of 0 A.D.</b> If you want to contribute, see <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/support-0-a-d-an-open-source-strategy-game/">THIS</a> page on Indiegogo. Perks include soundtrack CDs, posters and you can even get your face on a game unit. <b>More information <a href="http://play0ad.com/indiegogo-crowdfunding-campaign-new-release-alpha-14-naukratis/">HERE</a>.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to Aviv Sharon, a contributor to 0 A.D. who has emailed me today, some or all of the sums donated towards this fundraiser may be tax-deductible for many US taxpayers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Also, if you can contribute to 0 A.D. (programming, art, sound, documentation and more), see the programmers <a href="http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/GettingStartedProgrammers">getting started</a> page and join #0ad-dev on QuakeNet on IRC.</div><br /><br /><h2>Install 0 A.D. in Ubuntu</h2><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/0a.d_2.jpg" rel="image_group"><img alt="0 A.D. alpha 14" src="http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1113424/img/0a.d_2_thumb.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The latest 0 A.D. alpha 14 is available in a PPA for Ubuntu users. Add the PPA and install 0 A.D. using the commands below:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wfg/0ad<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install 0ad</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>For other Linux distributions, Windows or Mac OS X, see the 0 A.D. <a href="http://play0ad.com/download/">downloads page</a>.</b></div><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>via <a href="http://play0ad.com/indiegogo-crowdfunding-campaign-new-release-alpha-14-naukratis">play0ad.com</a>, some screenshots via 0 A.D. @ <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/105243244628275530704/posts">Google+</a></i></div>

Free RTS Game 0 A.D. Sees New Alpha Release

0 A.D. , one of the best free, open source real-time strategy games, has reached alpha 14, codenamed "Naukratis". The new releas...

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Open Source Real Time Strategy Game `0 A.D.` Alpha 13 Available For Download

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/0ad-mauryan-buildings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="0 a.d." border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-us3b3Yk7dHc/UVv5PJzrorI/AAAAAAAAOzg/YZ1O3HGwd6I/s320/0ad-mauryan-buildings.jpg" title="0 a.d." width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The thirteenth alpha version of <a href="http://play0ad.com/">0 A.D.</a> has been <a href="http://play0ad.com/alpha-13-magadha/">released</a> yesterday, bringing a new civilization: Mauryan Indian, new songs, AI improvements and more</b>. 0 A.D. is an open source, historical real-time strategy game developed by Wildfire Games, that can be played on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.</div><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><b>Changes in 0 A.D. Alpha 13 "Magadha":</b><br /><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">new Mauryan Indian civilization which includes new units and buildings which reflect the culture's original architectural style;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Aegis bot (the default AI) has been greatly improved in all areas: defending, attacking or building a strong economy;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">attack/move command: when using Ctrl + right click to move units to a location, they will go to that location and stop to attack enemies they meet on the way;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">the building preview now always shows the precise final variation that will be built;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">when buildings can't be placed somewhere, helpful messages are displayed now;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">6 new songs have been added;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">new and improved animal sounds for lions, tigers and bears;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">user mod support - see the <a href="http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/Modding_Guide">modding guide</a> for more info;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">new Javascript debugger.</li></ul><br />Below you can watch a video with the new features in 0 A.D. alpha 13:<br /><br /><center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Y-0l7Ej3cM8" width="560"></iframe><br />(<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-0l7Ej3cM8">direct video link</a>)</center><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">0 A.D. uses Pyrogenesis game engine which is mostly written in C++ and uses Mozilla's SpiderMonkey JavaScript engine for scripting and it features excellent graphics and sound. The game allows users to control about 11 ancient civilizations, including Gauls, Spartans, Persians, Romans, Carthaginians and so on and one of its biggest downsides is that there's no matchmaking service yet, although it does have multiplayer support (as well as single player), but only peer-to-peer is currently supported.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>If you can contribute to 0 A.D. (programming, art, sound, documentation and more), see the programmers <a href="http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/GettingStartedProgrammers">getting started</a> page and join #0ad-dev on QuakeNet on IRC.</b></div><br /><br /><h2>Install 0 A.D. game in Ubuntu</h2><br />Ubuntu users can install the latest 0 A.D. by using its official PPA:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wfg/0ad<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install 0ad</code></pre><br /><br /><b>Download 0 A.D. for other <a class="external" href="http://play0ad.com/download/linux/">Linux</a> distributions, <a class="external" href="http://play0ad.com/download/win">Windows</a> or <a class="external" href="http://play0ad.com/download/mac">Mac OSX</a>.</b>

Open Source Real Time Strategy Game `0 A.D.` Alpha 13 Available For Download

The thirteenth alpha version of 0 A.D. has been released yesterday, bringing a new civilization: Mauryan Indian, new songs, AI improvement...

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Free Cross-Platform RTS Game 0 A.D. Alpha 12 Available For Download

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/0ad-alpha-12-rubble.png" rel="image_group"><img alt="0 AD alpha 12" src="http://img.netupd8.com/0ad-alpha-12-rubble_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>0 A.D, one of the best free, open source real-time strategy (RTS) games, has reached the <a href="http://play0ad.com/alpha-12-loucetios/">alpha 12</a>.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For those not familiar with 0 A.D., this is a historical war and economy game that <b>works on Linux, Windows and Mac OSX</b>. It features great graphics and sound and it has both single-player and multi-player functionality (multi-player uses peer-to-peer networking, without a central server and there's no matchmaking service yet).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">0 A.D. alpha 12 "Loucetios" has been released with interesting new features such as diplomacy, packing siege engines, heroes, new match setup options, improved graphics and user interface and more.</div><br /><b>Changes in 0 A.D. alpha 12 "Loucetios":</b><br /><a name='more'></a><ul><li>Diplomacy: you can determine if other human players are your allies, enemies or neutral and change this any time you want</li><li>Heroes are back, each player can have only 1 living hero</li><li>New match setup options: you can select the population cap and amount of resources used when starting a new game</li><li>Five new random maps have been added</li><li>Formation order queueing: you can give units several tasks to carry out in order</li><li>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"</li><li>Unit training hotkeys</li><li>Improved water rendering</li><li>Post-processing manager: enable features such as distance fog, bloom and more</li><li>New song: "Calm Before the Storm"</li><li>More!</li></ul><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/0ad-alpha-12-distance-fog.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="0 A.D. alpha 12 - distance fog"><img alt="0 Ad alpha 12 distance fog" src="http://img.netupd8.com/0ad-alpha-12-distance-fog_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Distance fog</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">As usual, the 0 A.D. developers have released a video, demoing the new features available in the latest 0 A.D. alpha:</div><br /><center><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/I_xDEJrf6q4" width="560"></iframe><br />(<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_xDEJrf6q4">direct video link</a>)</center><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">And speaking of 0 A.D., the game has reached the second round in the Indie of the Year 2012 awards - if you like 0 A.D. <b>vote for it </b><a href="http://www.indiedb.com/events/2012-indie-of-the-year-awards/top100#vote10298">HERE</a> (under <i>Upcoming games of 2012 > Real Time Strategy</i>).</div><br />The voting continues until the end of the world (December 21st) :)<br /><br /><br /><br /><h2>Install 0 A.D. game in Ubuntu</h2><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://img.netupd8.com/0ad-alpha-12-custom-rubble.jpg" rel="image_group"><img alt="0 A.D. alpha 12" src="http://img.netupd8.com/0ad-alpha-12-custom-rubble_thumb.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ubuntu users can use the official 0 A.D PPA to install the latest 0 A.D. alpha - copy and paste the following commands in a terminal to install it:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wfg/0ad<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install 0ad</code></pre><br /><b>Download 0 A.D. for <a href="http://play0ad.com/download/linux/">Linux</a>, <a href="http://play0ad.com/download/win">Windows</a> or <a href="http://play0ad.com/download/mac">Mac OSX</a>.</b>

Free Cross-Platform RTS Game 0 A.D. Alpha 12 Available For Download

0 A.D, one of the best free, open source real-time strategy (RTS) games, has reached the alpha 12 . For those not familiar with 0 A.D., this...

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Cross-Platform RTS Game 0 A.D. Hits Alpha 11

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MldaTY1US1U/UEsinrKUf1I/AAAAAAAAKCs/ONf3Rg5kjfo/s1600/0ad-alpha-11-hellenic-buildings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="0 a.d. alpha 11" border="0" height="157" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MldaTY1US1U/UEsinrKUf1I/AAAAAAAAKCs/ONf3Rg5kjfo/s320/0ad-alpha-11-hellenic-buildings.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The eleventh alpha version of <a href="http://www.wildfiregames.com/0ad/">0 A.D.</a> has been released by Wildfire Games yesterday.</b> 0 A.D. is an open source, real-time strategy game that works on Linux, Windows and Mac OS X and features excellent graphics and sound but, since it's in alpha, there are also some missing features like settings, multiplayer matchmaking service and others.</div><br /><a name='more'></a><b>0 A.D. alpha 11 "Kronos" brings a lot of in-game changes:</b><br /><ul><li>You can now create gates, which can be locked or unlocked</li><li>New sound system which supports Mac OS X. The new system also sets a solid framework for future sound features, such as having the sounds change depending on how much you are zooming in on the map, or on the severity of a battle occurring in-game.</li><li>New AI script: Aegis Bot</li><li>New Celtic Factions: Britons and Gauls will now replace the generic Celtic faction</li><li>You can see whatever parts of the map your allies have explored and vice versa</li><li>Graphic improvements: several post-processing effects and mapping enhancements have been implemented using OpenGL Shading Language, but they are experimental so they are disabled by default in 0 A.D. alpha 11, but can be turned on by changing the user <a href="http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/Manual_Settings">config file</a></li><li>New art assets</li><li>Seven new maps: Pyrenean Sierra, Oasis, Northern Lights, Lorraine Plain, Sahel Watering Holes, Gear and Unknown</li><li>You can now import an image file and Atlas will transform it into a 3d map</li><li>Three new music tracks. You can listen all the available tracks in 0 A.D. alpha 11, <a href="http://play0ad.bandcamp.com/album/0-a-d-soundtrack">here</a>.</li><li>Other changes: Game setup and score screen changes, queued rally points, more realistic ranged attack, team & private multiplayer chat and cheats. A cheats manual can be found <a href="http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/Manual_Cheats">here</a>.</li><li><a href="http://www.wildfiregames.com/0ad/page.php?p=14466#comments">more </a></li></ul><br /><b>Here is a video demoing the new gates feature implemented in the latest 0 A.D. alpha 11 Kronos:</b><br /><br /><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/akJadF2JmSc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />(<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akJadF2JmSc">direct video link</a>)</center><br /><br /><h2>Install 0 A.D in Ubuntu</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The latest 0 A.D. is available for Ubuntu 12.10, 12.04, 11.10, 11.04 and 10.04 in a PPA. Add it and install 0 A.D. using the commands below:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wfg/0ad<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install 0ad</code></pre>There's also <a href="https://launchpad.net/%7Ewfg/+archive/0ad.dev">a PPA</a> that provides weekly 0 A.D. development snapshots.<br /><br /><b>0 A.D. is also available for <a href="http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/LatestReleaseWindows">Windows</a>, <a href="http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/LatestReleaseMac">Mac OS X</a> and other <a href="http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/LatestReleaseLinux">Linux</a> distributions.</b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>The 0 A.D. developers are looking for contributors in <a href="http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/GettingStartedProgrammers">programming</a>, art, sound, documentation and more. If you can help, contact the developers @ #0ad-dev on QuakeNet and <a href="http://www.wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?act=Reg&coppa_pass=1">register</a> on the 0 A.D. forums.</i></div><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>info and screenshot via <a href="http://www.wildfiregames.com/0ad/">0 A.D.</a></i></div>

Cross-Platform RTS Game 0 A.D. Hits Alpha 11

The eleventh alpha version of 0 A.D. has been released by Wildfire Games yesterday. 0 A.D. is an open source, real-time strategy game that...

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