0 A.D.
Version: Web:
Zero-ey-dee – that’s how it’s officially pronounced – is a top-quality clone of Ageof EmpiresII:TheAgeofKings, started back in 2001. In 2003, development moved to a standalone game with its own engine (Pyrogenesis), and in 2010 the game was released as free, open source software.
0A.D. reconstructs the main civilisations from 500B.C. to 500A.D., with the name standing for the skipped zero year in the middle.
Though it’s still officially in alpha, it's a highly playable ancient warfare real-time strategy game. It’s also prepackaged for dozens of Linux distributions and is usually presented in two packages: the game engine and a massive 1.5GB data archive. Being curious, we looked inside the 0ad-data package and found that at least half of it was occupied by highquality textures and meshes.
In spite of its hefty footprint, the game starts instantly and shows a brief disclaimer about things missing in the alpha version. Don't worry: all the essential features work fine.
The graphics are smooth and the game is very comfortable to control with smooth scrolling and zooming.
The goal of the game is to develop an ancient city by gathering resources (food, wood, metal, stone, and so on), and constructing buildings and units, both civic and military. As soon as possible, you need to train an army, which can even include siege weapons and warships. Training military units costs resources, so the game pushes you towards the only viable strategy: build infrastructure first and your army second.
The time you have for the first stage depends on who you play against. You can choose one or several AI counterparts (but don't choose too many: it slows down the game). If you play against only one enemy (or 'faction') you'll have enough time to build your city in peace before the fighting starts.