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Reading Games

It is a moment in time that never was.
It is the spring of the world, and the dawn of history.
It is a glimpse into an era when the empires of the world are at their zenith.
It is but a breath of an age when mighty rulers wield rods of iron and brazen swords;
to demonstrate that they are indeed the greatest ancient civilization!

0 A.D. is another strategy game I've been following for quite some time. The team that is releasing it, Wildfire Games, started out by releasing a mod for Age of Kings that converted the entire Mesoamerican civilization branch to that of Greeks and Romans. The Mod Pack was such a huge success that Wildfire decided to release their own game, featuring not just the Greeks and Romans, but several civilizations from that zenith in history.

What they've come up with is astonishing. The project is 0 A.D., which allows the player to control 6 civilizations (Romans, Carthaginians, Celts, Iberians, Hellenes, Persians) from the time period of 500 B.C, to around 1 A.D. The entire game will be freeware when it is released. Here are a few of the features listed on the main site:

• Historically accurate
• 6 unique civilisations
• Seasons and weather
• Provinces and territories
• Realistic maps/terrain
• Realistic naval warfare
• Comprehensive editor
• Several multiplayer modes

What has compelled me most about this game is that the company is actually following through. In the Indie games world, you see so many games that are announced, look so promising, but are never finished. Such dissappointments time and time again have let to a sort of apathetic attitude towards new developers from not just me, but those that follow the Indie games community in general.

So, without further ado, here is 0 A.D. in all it's splendor. The graphics have come a long way in almost 3 years, and if you look at shots in the old gallery, you can see the improvements.

0 A.D. Screenshot Gallery

I am definately looking forward to the day this game is released, not just for the single player campaign, but for the online battles as well.

"It is much more comfortable to be mad and know it, than to be sane and have one's doubts."