New Release: 0 A.D. Alpha 4 Daedalus news

Wildfire Games proudly announces the release of "0 A.D. Alpha 4 Daedalus", the fourth alpha version of 0 A.D., a free, open-source game of ancient warfare. Now you can play against a (rudimentary) computer opponent, build Celtic warships, see gradually blending terrains, march your troops past beautiful bridges 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. You can redistribute it and modify it 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 registration, no advertising, no catch.

New programming features in this release:

• Added initial prototype version of opponent AI: It can train female citizens, collect resources, build houses, farms & barracks, train soldiers & send them to the enemy civ center.
• Improved fog-of-war rendering.
• Fixed terrain texture blending.
• Added opt-in automatic feedback system.
• Fixed foundation obstruction handling.
• Added support for build limits.
• Extended animal AI: Animals like Lions, Elephants, etc. can now fight back, and some escape farther away from perceived threats.
• Improved driver version detection code.
• Various performance improvements.

New art and sound features in this release:

• New Naval Units: Celt Warship, Celt Merchant Ship, Celt Fishing Boat, and Greek Fishing Boat.
• New siege weapons: The Celts can now build battering rams from their fortresses.
• Bridges: Eyecandy edge pieces to use in the Atlas editor.
• New in-game sound effects: Including ship movement, ship selection, female citizen acknowledgment, dog bark, dog acknowledgment, wood chopping, metal ore mining, stone mining, siege weapon acknowledgment, and ram movement.

Room for improvement:

• There is no random map generation yet.
• Many unit stats are still unbalanced.
• Many planned gameplay features are not added yet: There is no research, no auras, no rank upgrades, no settlements and territories, etc.
• Many bugs and small missing features.
• There is no multiplayer matchmaking service. You have to connect by IP address. (More convenient ways may be implemented in the future).

As you can see, there is still a lot of work to be done. If you want to be part of this effort too, you're welcome to get involved!

Why "Daedalus"?
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, ...).

In Greek and Roman mythology, Daedalus (pronounced DEH-duh-lus or DEE-duh-lus; means "cunning worker" in Greek) was a mythological character famed for his inventions and craftsmanship. His creations included the Labyrinth at Knossos, artificial wings for himself and his son Icarus and more (Source: "Daedalus" on Encyclopedia Mythica). According to our records, "Daedalus" was first suggested on our forums by 0 A.D. fan eggman. Thanks!

For the next alpha, we welcome fan suggestions for words relating to the ancient world beginning with the letter E. We will prefer words related to the civilizations of ancient Iberia. Keep it original and within the 0 A.D. timeframe (appx. 500 BC - 1 BC). Yes, that means we intend to release the Iberian faction in Alpha 5!

The One-Month 0 A.D. Development Pledge
As you might remember, last release we asked for your donations so that we can compensate a developer of the team's choice for 160 hours of work. Thanks to our devoted fans from around the world, we reached our goal of $3,000 within less than 90 days! We cannot thank you all enough for your generosity. This shows in no uncertain terms how much our fans believe in 0 A.D. and is a huge encouragement for the entire team.

So far, we have tentatively selected the team member who will receive this compensation, Philip (Ykkrosh), but decided to hold off for a few months until we start using these funds to wait until he has more time to dedicate to 0 A.D development. We will announce exactly what parts of the game the money will be used for as soon as that becomes more relevant.

New Game Manual
We are working on new, more extensive documentation for the game on our wiki. As usual, this is a collaborative effort and everyone is invited to participate.

Long Time, No Siege
Wildfire Games will continue releasing new versions of 0 A.D. periodically. Watch our news feed to keep updated, 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.