This is the first in a new series of design blogs about Zero-K. We aim to release one every two weeks, when there isn't a patch, and by 'we' I mean me, GoogleFrog (others might contribute later). Expect posts about Zero-K development, design, history, and whatever else comes to mind. To start us off, why is Zero-K even called Zero-K? It started around 2009 when a mod called Complete Annihilation wanted to throw off the shadow of being "just another alphabet soup mod", the term for games on the Spring Engine that traces themselves back to Total Annihilation. The mod split off from Balanced Annihilation a few years earlier, which forked off Absolute Annihilation, which was based on Uberhack and subsequently ported to Spring. For those of you aware of BAR (Beyond All Reason), it is based on Balanced Annihilation and had the working name BA Reloaded.
Zero-K was picked after much discussion, deliberation, argument, and finally, a vote. We had a site at the time, called CaGov, where developers could create polls and vote on things. We voted on things from whether taking damage should decloak (it does) and whether all bombers should be replaced with laser bombers (only Thunderbird was replaced). The simple version of the Zero-K name is that it won, beating a few other proposals, the only other of which I can remember is Robocracy. There were a few arguments in favour of Zero-K. The more narratively inclined like the idea of robots fighting pointlessly over the scraps of a universe approaching heat death, or zero degrees kevin. That paid off in the lore for the campaign over a decade later (any more would be spoilers). We also coveted 0 A.D.'s alphabetically superior position on various lists, and thought we could force the shortening 0K. That did not work out. Most of all, we wanted a unique name that would stand out and win at page rank, as search was all the rage in the late 2000s. We at least won that battle, defeating a book about cryogenics and a brand of dangerously cold single-use towelettes. The towelette company even sent us a sample after a Twitter interaction; the book still makes it to the image search preview in DuckDuckGo.
We may have been a bit too clever with the name. Zero-K stepped out of the shadow of Total Annihilation only a few years before Planetary Annihilation embraced it. Nostalgia aside, the latter is still a more descriptive name, and such names are common for strategy games. Think of all the names to do with armies or conquest. War, command, force, settle, empire, company, division, legion... the list goes on. Generic names indicate genre, which we gave up in favour of being unique. Maybe that sums up Zero-K. Arguably the best aspect of the name revealed itself years after the decision was made - puns about low temperature - which far outweighs any downside. Zero-K: Nothing is cooler.

• Traditional real time strategy with physically simulated units and projectiles.
  
• 100+ varied units with abilities including terrain manipulation, cloaking and jumpjets.
  
• 70+ mission galaxy-spanning campaign to be enjoyed solo or co-op with friends.
  
• Challenging, (non-cheating) skirmish AI and survival mode.
  
• Multiplayer 1v1 - 16v16, FFA, coop. ladders, replays, spectators and tournaments.
  
• PlanetWars - A multiplayer online campaign planned to start in May.
  
• Really free, no paid advantages, no unfair multiplayer.

Fully Utilized Physics

• Use small nimble units to dodge slow moving projectiles.
  
• Hide behind hills that block weapon fire, line of sight and radar.
  
• Toss units across the map with gravity guns.
  
• Transport a battleship to a hilltop - for greater views and gun range.

Manipulate the Terrain

• Wreck the battlefield with craters that bog down enemy tanks.
  
• Dig canals to bring your navy inland for a submarine-in-a-desert strike.
  
• Build ramps, bridges, entire fortress if you wish.
  
• Burn your portrait into continental crust using the planetary energy chisel.

Singleplayer Campaign and Challenging AI

• Explore the galaxy and discover technologies in our singleplayer campaign.
  
• Face a challenging AI that is neither brain-dead nor a clairvoyant cheater.
  
• Have some coop fun with friends, surviving waves of chicken-monsters.
  
• Cloaking? Resurrection? Tough choices customizing your commander.

Casual and Competitive Multiplayer

• Enjoying epic scale combat? Join our 16v16 team battles!
  
• Looking for a common goal? Fight AIs or waves of chicken-monsters.
  
• Prefer dancing on a razor's edge? Play 1v1 in ladder and tournaments.
  
• Comebacks, betrayals, emotions always running high in FFA.
  
• Want to fight for a bigger cause? Join PlanetWars, a competitive online campaign with web-game strategic elements, diplomacy and backstabbing (currently on hiatus pending an overhaul).

Power to the People

• Do what you want. No limits to camera, queue or level of control.
  
• Paint a shape, any shape, and units will move to assume your formation.
  
• Construction priorities let your builders work more efficiently.
  
• Don't want to be tied down managing every unit movement? Order units to smartly kite, strafe or zig zag bullets.

Plenty of Stuff to Explore (and Explode)

• Learn to use all of our 100+ units and play on hundreds of maps.
  
• Invent the next mad team-tactics to shock enemies and make allies laugh.
  
• Combine cloaking, teleports, shields, jumpjets, EMP, napalm, gravity guns, black hole launchers, mind control and self-replication.
  
• Tiny flea swarm that clings to walls?
  
• Jumping "cans" with steam-spike?
  
• Buoys that hide under water to ambush ships?
  
• Mechs that spew fire and enjoy being tossed from air transports?
  
• Carrier with cute helicopters?
  
• Jumping Jugglenaut with dual wielding gravity guns?
  
• Meet them in Zero-K!

• OS: Ubuntu 13.04 or equivalent
• Processor: 2.0 GHz dual core CPU with SSE (Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent)Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Graphics: 512 MB graphics card with OpenGL 3 support (GeForce 8800 or equivalent)
• Storage: 6 GB available spaceAdditional Notes: 64bit only. Big Picture mode is not supported

• OS: Ubuntu 17.10 or equivalent
• Processor: 3.0 GHz quad core CPU (Intel Core i5 or equivalent)Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: 2048 MB graphics card with OpenGL 3 support (high GT 500 series or equivalent)Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Storage: 8 GB available spaceAdditional Notes: 64bit only. Big Picture mode is not supported