When comparing 0 A.D. vs Grey Goo, the Slant community recommends 0 A.D. for most people. In the question“What are the best RTS games for PC?” 0 A.D. is ranked 12th while Grey Goo is ranked 43rd. The most important reason people chose 0 A.D. is:
Still currently in development, 0 A.D. is currently in Alpha stages and completely free. For those willing to wade through the multiple bugs, essentially testing the title, this game will scratch the itch of any RTS fan on a shoestring budget.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Free, Real-Time Strategy title actively being developed
Still currently in development, 0 A.D. is currently in Alpha stages and completely free. For those willing to wade through the multiple bugs, essentially testing the title, this game will scratch the itch of any RTS fan on a shoestring budget.
Pro Multi-platform support
The game will run on any Operating System, whether it be Linux, OSX, or Windows, which is great for people who dual-boot or use multiple OS's across their devices. No matter the OS used, one can install and play this game.
Pro Addictive Age of Empires style gameplay
This game can be seen as a spiritual successor to Age of Empires, thus it will provide similar gameplay to those who are familiar with the AoE series.
Pro Straightforward RTS gameplay
0 A.D. brings recognizable, straightforward, Real-Time Strategy gameplay to the players. With a mini-map in the bottom corner, resources shown in a bar at the bottom, and unit selection through double clicking, all of the major elements found in most RTS games is here, making for a very familiar game for those that are used to the genre.
Pro Code is open-source
Even if the current developer team chooses to no longer work on the game, others can keep contributing to the source code and modify it.
Pro Active development
By being in active development the game allows for frequent bug fixes as well as frequent new content. While it is still in alpha, the state of the game playability is pretty good with new features being added all the time.
Pro Balanced asymmetric races
Each of the three races have their own powers and weaknesses, which makes for asymmetric gameplay due in part to how each is balanced. Relying partially on a rock, paper, scissors approach, each faction has power over the others in some way, as well as exploitable weakness. Thus, when choosing a race, the player has to keep in mind what they need to do in order to defeat the other races, which results in different and unique play styles, increasing strategic longevity of the title.
Pro Accessible gameplay
Being that this is designed to be a traditional RTS game, fans of the genre should find the the gameplay familiar and easily accessible.
Pro Polished design
The graphics look great and look to be designed with care. There are plenty of tutorial pop-ups as well, which enhances the overall design and polish, as it alleviates any confusion players may have mid-match.
Pro Great map editor
Users can create their own maps with the custom map editor, which makes for a ton of longevity to the game as players can create their own maps to play on.
Pro Great soundtrack
The soundtrack features different music for each of the three available races. All of it is done well and feels as though it fits with each race making for a more immersive experience.
Pro Clever AI
The AI in Ashes of the Singularity is programmed quite well, allowing it to detect a player's weakness and using that to its advantage. Allowing the AI to have the same advantages that regular human opponents receive, in regards to Player Power Level and Mini-Map expansion detection, this keeps the player on their toes and makes for challenging single player action.
Pro Amazing building shortcuts
It's super easy to quickly select and build a specific unit and/or building, thanks to the excellent build menu.
Cons
Con Currently in alpha
0 A.D. is an ongoing open source project that is as of yet feature complete.
Con Slow development
0 A.D. is an ongoing open source project that is as of yet feature incomplete. This game is still in Alpha version 23 Ken Wood as of September 2020.
Con Terrible UI
User interface is terrible: it's hard to select units and the cursor frequently gets stuck on other functions.
Con Can't change game speed
There's no way to slow down or speed up game speed.
Con Region locked
The matchmaking component of this title suffers from the region locking instituted upon it. Due to this constraint, finding players and getting into matches can be a issue, and take a great deal more time, as you will be unable to look for anyone outside of your respective region.
Con Lack of replays and spectator mode
There is no replay feature in the game, which means users will not be able to look back at previous matches, nor is there a spectator mode to allow others to view a match in progress.
Con Maximum of four players for multiplayer is limiting
The game's multiplayer greatness is stymied due to the limit on the maximum number of players being only four. With the only large-scale battles limited to 2v2 game types, players hoping to have more epic battles and play with more friends will unfortunately have to look elsewhere.