0 A.D.

[TheCommandTent]

Anyone else heard anything about this game?

http://www.wildfiregames.com/0ad/

0 A.D. (pronounced "zero ey-dee") is a free, open-source, cross-platform real-time strategy (RTS) game of ancient warfare. In short, it is 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. The project is highly ambitious, involving 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.

It looks like an open-source successor/tribute to Age of Empires.  Its been in development for a while and seems to rely on community members to help develop the game. 

[Gusington]

Just read about this yesterday, it looks interesting. The long development time could make it either fantastic or craptacular. I'm still interested, of course :)

[Nefaro]

Glad to see the period covered, even if it's primarily an old-school RTS.  But being an open source alpha for ten years doesn't bode well.  I'd be surprised if it ever reaches a polished state.

[Huw the Poo]

I've tried it a couple of times, most recently a month ago.  The engine's there but there isn't much of a game yet.  It does look promising though.

[Longdan]

I have been playing it for a while.  It is very pretty and has great potential
but there are a lot of similar games.  No surprise since it is based on a mod.
I like it and if you quibble over the price you have bigger problems.
That is not a personal judgement it is a realistic assessment.

[Gusington]

What? No one commented that it was a personal judgment. Relax.

[Longdan]

Relax? Relax already!  I only said that because it is free!
I guess you might want them to pay you to play it but
everybody can afford free.  The sight is also very friendly
and has a nice open feel to it.

[Anguille]

I've been keeping an eye on this game for many years already...haven't tried anything yet as it's still being produced. I like the looks of it.

[Gusington]

Longdan you are a mystery wrapped in an enigma.

Age of Empires was one of my first modern PC games so I am drawn to 0 AD too...I do like finished games though.

[Longdan]

Not enigmatic or mysterious just said that if you can't afford free
you have a real problem.  Like if you did not like free for some capitalist
or religious reason.  That is a problem.  If you are like me and you have
2 x 2 gig hard drives full of bought stuff you do not want to erase for
free stuff and do not want to pay for another hard drive for a free game
that is a problem.  But you have to buy another hard drive anyway to fill
up so you might as well buy the drive to get this free game to put on it.
So anyway I can see it if you quibble with the price you has a problem.
Any questions I can help with?

[TheCommandTent]

Age of Empires was one of my first modern PC games so I am drawn to 0 AD too...I do like finished games though.

Thats exactly what I have been thinking.

[Gusington]

I have a ton of questions for you Longdan.

[Longdan]

Well I am around sometimes.

[Gusington]

Noted.

[Longdan]

Look
The new website is available on http://play0ad.com.