Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.

0 a.d. 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 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.

0 A.D. alpha 11 "Kronos" brings a lot of in-game changes:
  • You can now create gates, which can be locked or unlocked
  • 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.
  • New AI script: Aegis Bot
  • New Celtic Factions: Britons and Gauls will now replace the generic Celtic faction
  • You can see whatever parts of the map your allies have explored and vice versa
  • 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 config file
  • New art assets
  • Seven new maps: Pyrenean Sierra, Oasis, Northern Lights, Lorraine Plain, Sahel Watering Holes, Gear and Unknown
  • You can now import an image file and Atlas will transform it into a 3d map
  • Three new music tracks. You can listen all the available tracks in 0 A.D. alpha 11, here.
  • 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 here.
  • more

Here is a video demoing the new gates feature implemented in the latest 0 A.D. alpha 11 Kronos:


(direct video link)


Install 0 A.D in Ubuntu


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:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wfg/0ad
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install 0ad
There's also a PPA that provides weekly 0 A.D. development snapshots.

0 A.D. is also available for Windows, Mac OS X and other Linux distributions.

The 0 A.D. developers are looking for contributors in programming, art, sound, documentation and more. If you can help, contact the developers @ #0ad-dev on QuakeNet and register on the 0 A.D. forums.

info and screenshot via 0 A.D.